updated 10:55 am EST, Thu December 14, 2006

Microsoft Get a Mac Spoof

Microsoft has produced an internal video satirizing Apple's recent "Get a Mac" ad campaign, according to Engadget. The ad, originally uploaded by ZuneBoards but allegedly created by Microsoft itself, gently but openly praises the Zune over the iPod, criticizing the Apple player for its lack of WiFi music sharing and its easily-scratched front face. It also praises the Zune's optional brown color and theZune Marketplace for its use of points, pointing out that iTunes customers have to provide credit card information where Zune owners can rely solely on prepaid cards purchased for either the Zune or the Xbox. See the video after the jump.

laaaaaaaame!

Actually...

...you can buy Zune points with prepaid cards. I don't know if there are Zune-specific cards (probably, but I'm in Canada), but buying an Xbox Live points card amounts to the same thing - and you only need to pay your local shop for one of those.

lame?, yes...

But it also made me laugh at the end with the brown analogy. I wouldn't take this too seriously, as MS often has teams produce this kind of stuff and it is usually as much a mockery of their own ineptness as it is their competitor's faults. And as much as I love my iPod, it is easy to see its faults as well.

it's no 'daa daa daa'

Reality Check

Yep, you can share some of the songs some of the time with a few thousand Zune owners scattered about the country. That is after you spend hours finding another Zune owner, which is far more difficult than any iTunes effort. Yippie! Back to something I care about.

Get a life zune

Soooo, microsoft gently lies when it discusses the security of points. iTunes CARDS are available widely, even at your local Costco; btw, Costco sells a $50 card for just $45 WOW. In microsoft money, my calculations est $50 = 3,990 points. Of course, rounded to the nearest point since they don't do fractions, which means that zune customers will experience a points leakage. Also, microsoft probably doesn't sell a batch of points at 3,990, so you'll have to spend more money on the points. Since this is microsoft, you can be assured that their shopping cart is secure, not full of security holes, like all of their other software is plagued with. No, this is magical zune world, with it's own currency & monetary exchange system...